行星天文学的重要地位及其热点

Frontiers of Planetary Astronomy

对1995年至2001年《Nature》和《Science》上发表的天文学论文的统计表明,行星天文学领域的论文数量明显超过天文学的其它分支学科,占天文学总论文数的1/3左右。从这个角度来看,行星天文学是天文学最活跃和重要的分支学科之一。对这些论文具体内容的分析可以给出当前行星天文学领域的若干热点问题。相比之下,我国对这一重要领域的关注和投入还远远不够。

By analyzing the number of the papers on astronomy published in Nature and Science from Jan. 1995 till Dec. 2001, it is concluded that planetary astronomy is one of the most active fields. The number of papers on planetary astronomy is up to one third of the total papers counted. Several widely concerned topics on planetary astronomy resulted from the analyzation are briefly introduced. It is appealed that more concern and funding supports in China should be needed in this important field.